Creating A Print Rich Environment

The words that you speak and the words that you read to your child can be some of the most important words that he or she hears. Words are the primary building blocks for learning and the earlier you begin talking and reading to your child, the better. Now, of course, I know you talk to your child even if your child is an infant. We mothers are always talking to our babies, even if we don't seem to make sense. And no one will deny the power of conversation in a child's life.

However, when it comes to building a rich vocabulary, nothing does it like words that come from "print". Your home should be "print rich". You should have books, magazines, and newspapers that your child sees you reading. You should read good, quality children's books to your child, even if you have to check books out from the library.

Research has shown that affluent families read to their children more often than families of children in poverty. By the time an affluent child is four, that child has heard 45 million words; a child with working class parents has heard 26 million; and a child in poverty has heard only 13 million. That 32 million word gap is extremely significant when that child starts kindergarten. That child will be behind his or her peers through no fault of his or her own.

Quoting from the report, Becoming A Nation of Readers: "The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children."

Please begin early. A child learns more between birth and age five than at any other time in his or her life. And if you don't take advantage of this window of opportunity, you can never make up for it and you can't get it back.

Recommended reading: Brown Bear, Brown Bear; Carl; The Hungry Caterpillar; Make Way For Ducklings; Blueberries for Sal; The Story of Ping. These books are what I call "Good Old Stand By" books because they have been around forever. Many are Caldecott and Newberry Award winners which means that they have won an award either for narrative content or for the excellence of their illustrations. They are appropriate for children from about 2-5 years of age.